So is the Romney campaign, in fact, declaring a “cease-fire” on Obamacare? No, no, no, says Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. “From our perspective, Obamacare has been and will continue to be a central issue in the campaign,” says Williams. “It presents voters with a bright line that divides the two candidates. Gov. Romney is going to repeal Obamacare and President Obama is going to keep it. There is a clear choice in November.”…

Williams notes that Romney made a public statement, shortly after the Supreme Court decision was announced, pledging his continued determination to repeal the health care law. In addition, Romney’s “Day One” commercials, which prominently feature the promise to repeal Obamacare, are still playing in several states. The campaign also released a web ad after the Supreme Court decision, promising to keep up the Obamacare fight. It also made regular announcements on the amount of money the campaign raised from supporters who oppose the Supreme Court ruling. And Romney’s campaign website, MittRomney.com, is filled with emphatic promises to repeal Obamacare.

So much for National Journal’s “ceasefire” speculation this morning — although I do think Team Mitt expects it’ll be roundly forgiven by the right for letting this issue slip during the campaign so long as their chances of winning are increasing. If those horrible new manufacturing numbers signal a wider economic downturn and end up sending Romney out to, say, a consistent four-point lead, no one’s going to be clamoring for him to shift his messaging from the economy to a battle o’ the mandates. A few lines about O-Care in his stump speech will suffice. The only way in which this ends up center stage, I think, is if (a) Obama and Romney get into an extended “ObamaCare vs. RomneyCare” exchange at the debates, when health care will assuredly come up, or (b) if the economy surprises everyone and starts to grow faster, forcing Mitt to come up with a Plan B. ObamaCare — or ObamaTax, if Team Mitt is willing to embrace that argument — is a logical fallback plan, but in light of Fehrnstrom’s answer last night, it looks like the Romney campaign wouldn’t at all be comfortable fighting that fight. They can do it if they have to by focusing on the cost, rationing, etc, but my hunch is that they think public opinion’s already more or less cemented on this. (The fact that the needles haven’t moved much in the post-SCOTUS polls seems to confirm that suspicion.) If Obama’s leading by four in September thanks to an economic rebound, it’s hard to believe that the thousandth iteration of “one-size-fits-all health-care plans are bad” will make up the difference. (If the public believed that, they wouldn’t be so keen on Medicare, right?)

All of which is to say, the “ObamaCare = ObamaTax” argument might be the only thing left to say about the program that the public hasn’t heard before (much) and which might actually move the needle. Is Romney’s team willing to embrace it? Stephen Hayes urges him to bite the bullet:

It’s inconceivable that at least some of the campaign this fall will not focus on the differences between what Obama did at the federal level and what Romney did in Massachusetts, with the Obama campaign seeking to obscure those differences and Romney trying to accentuate them. Why not call it a tax and include those differences in that debate?…

“Romney is quickly proving himself to be what some of us expected, very reactionary without a clear alternative to Obamacare,” said one Republican congressman. “The American people want and need the truth from him. Romneycare was both legal and a failure at the state level. Romney should just come clean.”…

“It doesn’t quite matter whether Romney calls this a tax, a penalty, or a potato. Voters will call it a tax and so will every other Republican candidate running for every other office,” [a Republican strategist] says. “It will be the most popular attack ad in Senate and House campaigns. Much like the president resisted the term Obamacare before he embraced it, we are two months away from even Romney calling it a tax. Gravity cannot be suspended.”

Is that the Hail Mary if Romney ends up trailing with only a few weeks to go — telling America that he’s learned the hard way what ambitious mandate-driven health-care programs can do and urging it to repent while it still has time, like some Ghost of Health-Care Christmas Future? Can’t imagine Team Mitt would be eager to run on a “my signature gubernatorial achievement was a terrible mistake” platform, but we’re gaming out worst-case scenarios here.

Here’s Allen West last night on Fox pushing the ObamaTax line and urging Romney to follow suit.

Blowback

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Comments

Is that the Hail Mary if Romney ends up trailing with only a few weeks to go — telling America that he’s learned the hard way what ambitious mandate-driven health-care programs can do and urging it to repent while it still has time, like some Ghost of Health-Care Christmas Future?

I sympathize with the reluctance to accept Roberts’ absurd interpretation of this as a tax, so I’m not going to crucify Romney’s spokesman.

The bottom line is, this is a difficult time for all thinking people on the right – there’s a new, complex, tax/penalty duality theory that’s been discovered by Roberts, and like the wave-particle duality in physics, it can be a bit hard to digest at first.

I propose calling it a “penalizing tax-like monstrosity” from here on out.

There are a lot of things to dislike about Romney as a candidate, but his underling artlessly hairsplitting on a concept that really only has any relevance to political wonks on a talk show is not on the list.

Romney’s unstated positions are always an enigma, but there was never any real indication that retreat on Obamacare was going to be a stated position.

I think part of Romney’s problem with 0bamacaretaxbullshorts is that while the Democrats were formulating it, they consciously brought in elements of MassCare specifically to target Romney in a general election. Yes, the Dems can do ish like this when the GOP goes for the “find a guy for the next election before the last one’s over” strategery.

There are subtle, but important differences, but they are easy to blur together in debate.

Team Romney: No way are we declaring a “ceasefire” on health care…I’ll believe that when Romney FIRES bumbling IDIOTS like Eric Fehrnstrom and then get’s his sh^t together for a rational and coherent response to the obozocare socialist healthcare nationalization, rationing, taxation and abortion atrocity.

Immigration. Student loans. Now ObamaCare. The pattern: Romney says ‘x’. Progressives cheer it; voices on the right denounce it. So Romney redacts ‘x’: Hey, no way did we mean x! We really meant ‘y’. And then we all wait for the next outrage from Team Romney.

I hate Romney.

Someone tell me again how he’s “consolidated the right” because I just don’t see it.

Is that the Hail Mary if Romney ends up trailing with only a few weeks to go — telling America that he’s learned the hard way what ambitious mandate-driven health-care programs can do and urging it to repent while it still has time

I hope nobody is fooled by a new load of BS dumping out of Romney’s mouth. I sure won’t, I’ll be voting for Gary Johnson regardless.

It’s a “tax” Romney! Get rid of that fool arguing against the tax label.

Romney is beginning to morph into McCain. If he blows this, the Republican Party will become a vague, bad memory. He needs to fire those jerks running his campaign and find some intelligent, tough people

So is the Romney campaign, in fact, declaring a “cease-fire” on Obamacare? No, no, no, says Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. “From our perspective, Obamacare has been and will continue to be a central issue in the campaign,” says Williams. “It presents voters with a bright line that divides the two candidates. Gov. Romney is going to repeal Obamacare and President Obama is going to keep it. There is a clear choice in November.”…

Yeah, sure there is a clear distinction. /S

Isn’t it true that the only way Romney could repeal is if a repeal bill is sent from congress? If that is the case, how many here think McConnell and Boehner will get that done?

The thing is that conservatives did not argue that the mandate was a tax…they argued that it was an unconstitutional over reach of the commerce clause.

Needless to say, there are all kinds of taxes attached to Obamacare, but the mandate as a tax angle is a recent development.

Now, I do not think Romney is going to cede this because Obamacare is unpopular. And while people can try to say Romneycare is the same thing, it is on the other hand popular with the people of the state Romney governed. It was 70 a pages long, not 2700 pages long. Deval Patrick has expanded the program and driven up costs, but overall the plan is still widely supported.

Romney can always go after the Independent Payment Advisory Board..the cuts in medicare that do not cut the deficit but only spend the money elsewhere…and the requirement of veterans to pay higher fees.

We are not experiencing this cycle like the vast majority of people are. I have no question that Romney will deploy the Death Star on WHATEVER it takes to beat Obama.

Yes. So you say. But to date Romney has only deployed his “death star” on conservatives. I mean, other than taunting the few people standing in line to hear Obama from the comfort of an air-conditioned Romney-bus or something.

Team Romney of course will NOW say they are not ‘cease-firing’ on Obamcare after some backlash from people including some Congressmen….but this was mistake since a second person, Mitts spokesperson came out and called Obamacare a mandate and not a tax…….which – a tax was a perfect gift to attack Obama on and Romneys people drop the ball

I think part of Romney’s problem with 0bamacaretaxbullshorts is that while the Democrats were formulating it, they consciously brought in elements of MassCare specifically to target Romney in a general election. Yes, the Dems can do ish like this when the GOP goes for the “find a guy for the next election before the last one’s over” strategery.

There are subtle, but important differences, but they are easy to blur together in debate.

Sekhmet on July 3, 2012 at 7:16 PM

I’ve always said it’s easier for the Dems to deal in truth when they can, saving the lies for when they have no other choice, and the outrageous outrage for when all else has failed. Even if what you say is true, it doesn’t change the fact that Romney may end up running against himself between now and November, particularly post-convention. When that happens as I believe it will, the folks who told us Romney was the best choice are going to look like a bunch of simpering fools.

Yes. So you say. But to date Romney has only deployed his “death star” on conservatives. I mean, other than taunting the few people standing in line to hear Obama from the comfort of an air-conditioned Romney-bus or something.

casuist on July 3, 2012 at 7:21 PM

Jesus, what are you a high school girl waiting by the phone to be invited to the prom?

It’s the day before July 4th. Don’t you know how election cycles work? He’s going to be kicking the living crap out of Obama unmercifully once the Keg is kicked and Mom ain’t on the beach. Trust me, MSNBC will be calling him a “racist” on a daily basis starting in August.

This Eric Fehrnstrom is predictably, like clockwork, going to continue to say things 100% opposed to the message that is seemingly called for… like with his Etch a Sketch remark.
Is Farnsworth part of a deliberate “good cop bad cop” campaign plan? I don’t see how his remarks help the campaign in any way, so I discount that far-fetched notion. Fehrnstrom needs to be silenced. He should stop talking to the press. Rupert Murdoch has a point: Romney needs to up the caliber of his professional campaign team, and demote his cronies that are not helping, like Fehrmstron.

Etch has been with Romney for a long time–since his days as governor. He was once a reporter for the Boston Herald. I’ve seen him referred to as top aide or senior aide, but I don’t know if there’s an exact title.

It’s the day before July 4th. Don’t you know how election cycles work? He’s going to be kicking the living crap out of Obama unmercifully once the Keg is kicked and Mom ain’t on the beach. Trust me, MSNBC will be calling him a “racist” on a daily basis starting in August.

Yes. So you say, again, but the pattern for Team Romney has been the opposite on immigration, student loans where Willard Romney smacked down the house GOP, and now this.

Ugh… I’m so utterly sick of the ‘Romney-needs-to-apologize’ bit. It’s boring. As if it would legitimately fix it for any of his rabid detractors, who by the way, sound like Democrats at this point. What goes on in one state in fifty, which was popular with both legislators and citizens at the time, not to mention veto-proof, isn’t the same as the 2000 page frankenstein monster Obama has foisted upon us.

I, for one, think this “etch-a-sketch”, “not-a-tax”, Fender-storm prick needs to be grounded from all public appearances. He wants so much to be liked by his questioners and to play the safe game of checkers, not realizing that we are now in serious 3D chess mode.

While I think he’s running a first rate, quick response campaign, he is not fit for prime time on the telly.

I, for one, think this “etch-a-sketch”, “not-a-tax”, Fender-storm pr!ck needs to be grounded from all public appearances. He wants so much to be liked by his questioners and to play the safe game of checkers, not realizing that we are now in serious 3D chess mode.

While I think he’s running a first rate, quick response campaign, he is not fit for prime time on the telly.

I’ve always said it’s easier for the Dems to deal in truth when they can, saving the lies for when they have no other choice, and the outrageous outrage for when all else has failed. Even if what you say is true, it doesn’t change the fact that Romney may end up running against himself between now and November, particularly post-convention. When that happens as I believe it will, the folks who told us Romney was the best choice are going to look like a bunch of simpering fools.

gryphon202 on July 3, 2012 at 7:23 PM

They are not going to look half as foolish as the cry baby sore losers who could not field a candidate who could beat him.

When conservatives argued against Obamacare, they did not call the mandate a tax..that is a political expediency that is born out of the fact that Obama used that argument to get this thing past the Supreme Court. It was not the argument made by people like Scalia.

When Romney was Governor all the true blue conservatives like the Heritage Foundation and Jim DeMint supported that health care bill..it was only after the fact that they turned on it…just like it is after the fact that we hear the argument that the mandate is in fact, a tax.

I would have supported the person who won the nomination even if it was not my first choice. I would not have continued to stab him in the back and whine.

So, who should have won? Newt? He supported a mandate as an alternative to Hillary Care? Herman Cain? Really? He did not know the difference between pro life and pro choice? Santorum? He was an establishment Republican who supported Medicare Part D?

Ugh… I’m so utterly sick of the ‘Romney-needs-to-apologize’ bit. It’s boring. As if it would legitimately fix it for any of his rabid detractors, who by the way, sound like Democrats at this point. What goes on in one state in fifty, which was popular with both legislators and citizens at the time, not to mention veto-proof, isn’t the same as the 2000 page frankenstein monster Obama has foisted upon us.

Give it a rest already. Sheesh.

Murf76 on July 3, 2012 at 7:28 PM

Yep. It wouldn’t change a thing for those who dislike him anyway, so why bother?

All of which is to say, the “ObamaCare = ObamaTax” argument might be the only thing left to say about the program that the public hasn’t heard before (much) and which might actually move the needle. Is Romney’s team willing to embrace it?

If they don’t, they’re more incompetent and worthless than I ever imagined.

Straight to the point, but I doubt it’ll do much good for some of this bunch. After all, they did NOT get their preferred choice in the primary, so what’s a little smidge of REALITY next to that devastating disappointment? /sarc

There was only one alternative to Romney I would have accepted unconditionally, and she decided not to run at all. The whys and wherefores of that fact don’t matter to me anymore. What matters is now we have a guy jonesing for the Oval Office who has to talk down Obamacare at the same time he talks up Romneycare. I don’t give a rat’s furry ass about what the swing voters think, Terry. I’m more worried about how this is going to play to the loyal Republican voters, of which I am one…

This Eric Fehrnstrom is predictably, like clockwork, going to continue to say things 100% opposed to the message that is seemingly called for… like with his Etch a Sketch remark.
Is Farnsworth part of a deliberate “good cop bad cop” campaign plan? I don’t see how his remarks help the campaign in any way, so I discount that far-fetched notion. Fehrnstrom needs to be silenced. He should stop talking to the press. Rupert Murdoch has a point: Romney needs to up the caliber of his professional campaign team, and demote his cronies that are not helping, like Fehrmstron.

anotherJoe on July 3, 2012 at 7:28 PM

You can’t really think of yourself as being informed on the issue if you don’t already know that Ed Gillespie is running ops and Karl Rove is Romney’s PR Hatchet Man. They’re both the best there is.

Now, I know Rush spent half his show pissing his pants about a comment NOBODY will care about (from Fehrnstrom) when those jobs numbers come on on Friday… but Rush is entertainment, not information based on reality.

Straight to the point, but I doubt it’ll do much good for some of this bunch. After all, they did NOT get their preferred choice in the primary, so what’s a little smidge of REALITY next to that devastating disappointment? /sarc

Murf76 on July 3, 2012 at 7:34 PM

Kindly remedy your cranio-rectal inversion, Murf. Some of us who are criticizing Romney intend to vote for him — at this point. It’s the folks who aren’t criticizing Romney AND have no intention of voting for him that Romney should be (and doesn’t look to me like he is) going after.

Are you going to dispute that a GOP governor passed this law, in essence, in Massachusetts? Because if you can convince me that there is any salient difference between the federal PPACA and that crap sandwich that Romney fed the voters of Massachusetts, you need to be working for the Romney campaign instead of that two-bit hack Fehrnstrom.

Straight to the point, but I doubt it’ll do much good for some of this bunch. After all, they did NOT get their preferred choice in the primary, so what’s a little smidge of REALITY next to that devastating disappointment? /sarc

Murf76 on July 3, 2012 at 7:34 PM

Keep your sarcasm to yourself as it is obvious you missed the blog post above altogether. Even GOP hacks who shoved the liberal choice down our throats now realize what Romney HAS to do, no way around it.

Perhaps now would be a good time for Romney to utter his first conservative syllable.

The base is very demoralized and needs a standard bearer to rally around.

Valiant on July 3, 2012 at 7:36 PM

Actually, the base is pretty energized. There are people who keep claiming they are the base who generally sit around and whine a lot..but the real base is behind Romney.

I can remember when Jim DeMint compared Romney to Reagan. I do not remember people screaming and whining then. No, their hatred for Romney came along after he looked like he could win..Hell,back in 2008 even Mark Levin and Rush Limbaugh loved the guy.

It is interesting that inconsistent people like to complain about Romney’s lack of consistency.

The base is very demoralized and needs a standard bearer to rally around.

Valiant on July 3, 2012 at 7:36 PM

The Economy is falling backward. If in April anyone would have said that Romney would be tied or winning in Polls vs. Obama people would have said that you were “high.”

The base is NOT demoralized. Talk Radio fans who happen to comment on blogs and who take their favorite hosts WAY too seriously are temporarily “demoralized” because their favorite host pretended to be “demoralized” today.

There was only one alternative to Romney I would have accepted unconditionally, and she decided not to run at all. The whys and wherefores of that fact don’t matter to me anymore. What matters is now we have a guy jonesing for the Oval Office who has to talk down Obamacare at the same time he talks up Romneycare. I don’t give a rat’s furry ass about what the swing voters think, Terry. I’m more worried about how this is going to play to the loyal Republican voters, of which I am one…

gryphon202 on July 3, 2012 at 7:36 PM

But, but, but RomneyBots would never, NEVER as they stated vite for her.

Too bad they don’t see the irony of their stupidity and hypocrisy.

Not that she was alone in being a MUCH better candidate, but like you said, don’t matter at this point. GOP won.

Straight to the point, but I doubt it’ll do much good for some of this bunch. After all, they did NOT get their preferred choice in the primary, so what’s a little smidge of REALITY next to that devastating disappointment? /sarc

Murf76 on July 3, 2012 at 7:34 PM

Nah, it won’t do much good. Oh well…what can you do? I mean, we’re only talking another four years of Obama, here…can’t be that bad./

Some of the more informed Romney folks at Hot Air have mentioned things that were put into Romneycare that were not what the governor had wanted and probably had much to do with why it wasn’t a success. If I remember correctly, many of those things are now in Obamacare, so why not point out what they were and what they did to the ultimate outcome? Seems like a win win to me.

Obama’s campaign strategy is inadequate to maintain him in a serious action such as Mitt Romney and the Tea Party will put to him. He has corruption in the coop, hate on the hoof, taqiyya on the tongue and bats in the belfry — that’s his campaign strategy. He can probably maintain himself in the type of fighting Mitt Romney and the Tea Party will give him in Mexifornia and a few states on the North East front. After that it will make no difference how many thousands of dead he has voting for him early and often, and if Americans want America and the Presidency back in 2012, Mitt Romney and the Tea Party will give it to them. … … even if they have to drag the “demoralized” to the polls.

Keep your sarcasm to yourself as it is obvious you missed the blog post above altogether. Even GOP hacks who shoved the liberal choice down our throats now realize what Romney HAS to do, no way around it.

riddick on July 3, 2012 at 7:40 PM

That is a load of crap.

I keep hearing that Romney has to reach out..he has to sell himself to the self ordained base or whatever…well what about your alternative? That person apparently does not even have to exist..he or she can just be the mythical “true conservative” and voila! we are all supposed to get on that bandwagon..even if there is no such person.

This is how the system you works….you get together with like minded people and find someone who can lead and who can win and you run that person for office. You put together an organization. Get on the ballots. Raise money. Make yourself known to people.

That requires more than name calling on a comment thread. It is not Romney;s fault if you and people like you could not get it together to come up with someone else who could win. You seem to think that you are entitled to get what you want without having to do the necessary work to make it happen.

Some of the more informed Romney folks at Hot Air have mentioned things that were put into Romneycare that were not what the governor had wanted and probably had much to do with why it wasn’t a success. If I remember correctly, many of those things are now in Obamacare, so why not point out what they were and what they did to the ultimate outcome? Seems like a win win to me.

Cindy Munford on July 3, 2012 at 7:45 PM

That’s a good question. But then, health care reform is not the only campaign issue in which Mitt is missing chances to distance himself from Obama.